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In contrast, her blue eyes seemed to shimmer like a mountain lake that beckoned in the distance but couldn’t be reached. Not easily.
“You look beautiful. Any further adornment is superfluous,” he said with the throwaway charm he had cultivated as carefully as the rest of his image. “But this is an important night for us. I wanted to mark the occasion.”
A shadow came into her eyes. Skepticism? Disappointment?
A sting of adrenaline shot through his limbs. “You don’t like it?”
“It’s a lovely addition to my collection. Thank you.” She turned her back, inviting him to put it on her.
His fingers were unnaturally clumsy. Those words “addition to my collection” caused his pulse to pound in his ears. For some reason, he recollected her long-ago boast that she had “put aside a nest egg like a dragon.” His mind raced, trying to remember the last time he’d visited their safe-deposit box. She was the one who rotated her jewelry in and out of it, depending on the events that were coming up in their calendar.
As much from habit as desire, he pressed a kiss to her nape once the necklace was secured.
She shivered, which was heartening, but then she touched the necklace and swallowed as though she found it restrictive.
Are we all right?
He didn’t ask the question because he didn’t want the answer, which was pure cowardice.
“This will only work if we’re honest with each other.”
Those words had been his. They were as true today as they’d been three years ago.
He wasn’t being dishonest, though. He genuinely believed they would get through this. Once the baby was here—
Damn, but this baby was carrying a lot on its very tiny shoulders.
The driver buzzed to signal their car was waiting.
Alexandra smoothed her expression into the haughty one that the paparazzi loved to capture, but she was uncharacteristically quiet at the party. Normally, she would extend herself, entertaining their table with anecdotes and cheeky wit, winning everyone over.
Tonight, she barely seemed to be in the room. When he held her on the dancefloor, she was stiff with tension, her face a cool mask he could hardly read.
“Are you not feeling well? You’ve been quiet.”
“I can’t stop thinking about Molly. She should have given notice right after the twelve-week scan. It’s coming up to fifteen. I know Gio’s been traveling and she wants to do it in person, but she’s putting on weight. Someone is bound to guess—”
“Can we have one conversation where we don’t talk about her?” he asked curtly.
She drew her head back in shock.
“She’s an adult who knows her assignment,” he continued stiffly. “If she’s worried about discovery, she should put in a request for a medical leave and leave.”
“She’s a conscientious person—”
“Yes, I know that. That’s why there’s no reason for you to worry about her. She’ll figure it out.”
“You really don’t care about her at all.” Her arms dropped away from him.
“I care about her the exact amount that is appropriate for her place in our life. You care about her too much. I don’t understand why.”
She took that like a slap. She was stunned, cheeks flushing with angry heat.
Rafael was aware of people noting that they had stopped dancing. It wasn’t the type of stir he liked to create.
With his heart pinballing in his chest, he drew her off the dance floor and into a quiet corner of the room.
“What is going on?” he demanded.
